Bringing The Heat Through Expression Of Our Passions…

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Monthly Archives: May 2016

We can’t be distracted by what celebrities or entities that we may admire do. We are here living real life. Even these sports figures that our men get so emotional about are not paying a bill or fixing a plate. Not buying shoes or schoolbooks or supplies. WE are the ones who need to learn survival skills (Our veterans can teach us a lot of that.) How to plant gardens and have them thrive–Our seniors can teach us that…Law, living off the grid, basic stuff like building fires ( and putting them out) and making temporary shelters, how to sanitize and save water, basic and extreme triage in emergency situations. How to do search and rescue in our neighborhoods and homes, how to bury a generator to muffle the sound, how to secure our homes from intruders— I know y’all get the picture. We have a grip of work to do and I as a sistah need my brothers who know and believe me to step up and help me. Enough talking when our children are being shot down in the streets like dogs. When a reality star and his stripper wife may be running things from their puppet level in government. When churches raise billions and do nothing to build revenue and resources in the community (like a Black Wall Street). I’m gonna step down off my high horse of love for my people… But let’s get it started!!! ( No Hammer.)

I can’t begin to express the loss to me of Prince as a living artist and humanitarian. His influence on me is so profound, going all the way back to his appearance on American Bandstand, when he threw Dick Clark off his game. My friend Ennis Hooker and I went to see Purple Rain at the movie theater that used to be across from Oakland Technical High School, dressed all in purple. My mother made me take my little sister Darice along, and I made her sit way in the back of the theater, trying to be cool in front of my friends. (She’s still holding it against me.) Harold Lowe won Student Body President by starting his election speech with “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called school…”(with “Let’s Go Crazy” playing in the background) –we lost our minds!! (Of course he won). My children’s father serenaded me with “Adore” after a disagreement early in our marriage. I couldn’t listen to the song for many years after we broke up. As a teenager in the 80’s the magazines we read were always trying to get us to choose between Prince and Michael Jackson. I loved them both, but the freaky side of Prince stole my heart more. His incredible talent with instruments, his lyrical artistry, his vocal interpretations, the emotion he drew from me as a listener all contributed to my adoration of him. As a teenager working at Parklane Hosiery at MacAthur Broadway Mall , I sold many pairs of hosiery to Rosie Gaines, who was just gaining traction as a vocalist. She and I were friends for awhile until her career took off and I left work to begin motherhood. She went on to record many songs with Prince, including “Diamonds and Pearls”. My new husband just recorded a tribute song to Prince– less than 3 months ago!! The list goes on and on in my life…The interview which came out recently with Don Lemon and Van Jones made me cry when I think of all the ways the World makes us into private people, and how many more lives we could have touched if I had the chance to know him personally. I learned about much of Prince’s philanthropy and generosity. I learned how deeply political and revolutionary his mindset was. I am inspired to do more with my gifts and to bring joy to others with my music, food, comedy and other projects which are in development. I think I owe my little sister a re-do on the movie. I can relate to his need for privacy and seclusion the more I live and interact with humans…